Love is a Puzzle: Part I
#2 of Puzzle Series
For some reason, my intro here didn't save. Anyway, this is a continuation of my short story Puzzle Piece, which seemed to get a positive response. This will be a series, but I'm not sure how long it will go on for. In any case, I hope you enjoy.
DISCLAIMER: The following story and its characters belong to me, TheAwakeDreamer, please do not use or redistribute without my permission.
LOVE IS A PUZZLE
Part I - Determination
Kieron grumbled as the sunlight pierced the window of his...house? The fox looked around sleepily, noticing he was somewhere very different.
Huh, strange...
The fox began to sit up in the bed when an arm pinned him down. He looked over to the spot beside him on the bed to see a sleeping husky. It was then that last night came back to Kieron and he smiled softly. Though in any other situation he was certain he wouldn't dare wake up the canine, especially since he looked so peaceful in his slumber, but the fox needed to head home.
God, won't that be fun? The fox rolled his eyes. "Quiet, you." He said softly, responding to his own thoughts before gently pushing the husky who grumbled, but continued to sleep. "Alright, Ronnie...how about this?" The fox said, addressing the husky who couldn't actually hear him. He leaned forward and kissed the canine, his paw trailing down into the covers.
"Ugh...God...mmm..." Ronnie murred, his eyes fluttering open, a grin finding its way onto his face as he awoke. "Talk about a wake-up call, mate." He said softly, before whimpering as the feeling stopped. "Oh come on, that's just not fair. You're gonna leave me like that?" The canine asked, scooting closer, grabbing the fox gently and he moved his hips to--
The fox frowned slightly, pushing the, er, 'excited' husky away from him. "I'm sorry, Ronnie, but I needed to get you up somehow. I can't very well leave without letting you know, besides, your arm had me pinned to the bed." He said with a light chuckle.
Ronnie still whimpered. "Where do you need to go that's so important? You can't just paw me off?" The husky asked softly, clearly having a one-track mind at that time.
"I'm sorry, Ronnie, but I should head home. My parents are probably wondering where I am, and God help us both if my parents find out I was with you. I'm not sure if my Mom would just say you 'tainted' me or if my Dad will come over for a more...physical approach." The fox said softly, but to lighten the mood, he grinned and said, "Besides, you have paws, you can cope without me for a few hours."
The husky pouted. "It's better when you do it..." He then smiled softly, however, "...okay, mate, just make sure to come back to me in one piece, alright? Do your parents know?"
"That I'm gay? Yeah...considering how they are now, I kind of wish they had kicked me out instead of showing some remorse." The fox said softly as he got up, picking up his clothes from last night and getting dressed.
Ronnie couldn't help but glance and catch sight of his rump before it was concealed by his underwear. The husky got up too. "I don't have work today, I could come with you." He offered.
Kieron looked at him as he slid his t-shirt on. "Didn't you hear me, Ronnie? My parents would not react well if they knew what I did last night."
The husky remained determined, stepping closer to the fox and embracing him. "Mate...love...Kieron, you've been out all night, you've just put on your clothes, so you plan to go home with messy fur, reeking of sweat and musk. You don't think they'd put two and two together?"
Kieron had to admit, the husky had a point. "When you say it like that..." He said quietly, ears folding back in slight embarrassment as he realised how reckless he was being about the whole situation.
Ronnie just smiled softly. "Come on, mate, get those clothes off and join me in the shower. After that, we'll go together, alright?" The husky offered, smiling a bit wider when the fox nodded his head. "Good, but no funny business, we're using to shower to get clean, not to get even messier than we are now."
"Aww, you've never wanted to have sex in the shower?" The fox teased with a grin, the tease being met with the husky harmlessly punching Kieron, the fist lightly tapping his shoulder.
"I never said that, mate, it's just not appropriate right now." Ronnie said, letting go of the fox to allow him to undress. "Though you make the idea hard to resist, I must say." He teased before heading towards the door to his room. "I'm going to get the shower ready, meet me in there when you're ready, alright?" The husky said to Kieron as he opened the door and went out into the hall.
--
Kieron sighed shakily as he looked at the house looming eerily just outside of the car. As the fox looked forward to see two huskies in the seats in front of him, he realised that he kind of wished he had Alan as a Dad.
Alan, Ronnie's father, was 30-something and, judging from how he acted, the fox wondered if what Ronnie had said yesterday, about his father being upset with him, was simply his fear of rejection. There was no tension in the car and Alan had offered to drive the two to Kieron's home and to allow the fox to stay with them if everything went wrong.
It was that kind of help, that kind of back-up that made him decide that there would be no lies. Kieron's parents had always hoped that his whole 'gay' thing was just a high school phase. They hadn't even brought it up directly since his junior year - his mom just tried to hook him up with girls, and his dad glared disapprovingly.
The fox sighed shakily as he put a paw on the doorknob, turning it and realising it was open. That meant someone was home. He walked inside, hearing footsteps from inside the kitchen. It was most likely his Mom and she had probably just heard the door open.
Kieron's Mom, Elaine, stepped out of the kitchen, her eyes widening a little as she saw him standing there. Her brows soon knitted together in frustration. The middle-aged vixen put her paws to her sides, staring at her son.
"Where have you been, Kieron?" She asked and as Kieron stood their frozen, her patience slowly drew thin. It wasn't that he was scared of his mother now, as much as it was that he was scared of how she would react.
But then Kieron remembered where he was; he stood at his door between the opportunity of freedom and happiness, and of a life of locked away emotions and sadness. The fox had tasted freedom when he was with Ronnie yesterday and that morning, and he realised how close he was to being that happy forever. He had nothing to lose, but everything to gain. His parents would turn on him even more, but he'd learned that they didn't really care about making him happy, so he felt no guilt in breaking their hopes that their son would be 'cured of his sin'.
His nerves began to strengthen as he stood upright. "Mom..." The fox inhaled, his resolve shaking, despite his belief that he was making the only right decision, despite his belief that there was no reason to feel pity for his parents in that moment. "I found someone. A male, and he's going to make me happy. Far happier than a female, than your 'plans' for me, or God's design ever could. If God wants to punish me for wanting to be truly happy in this life, then I wash my paws of him!" Kieron said and, in that moment, he felt proud of himself.
Elaine looked shocked for a moment before she stepped forward, clearly shaken. In his head, Kieron felt slightly relieved that his mother was home, not his father. He was almost certain the larger, more dominant of the mates, of his parents, would have reacted aggressively.
His Mom stuttered, but even managed out a response, "K-Kieron, I think you're confused right now. This boy, he probably tricked you, and it's part of...it's not...he's trying to pull you away from God and me and your father..." The vixen said.
"Good, I hope he does!" Kieron said before walking forward with purpose, knowing his Dad would have the house key, that his mother wouldn't be able to lock him in. The fox pushed past her and went upstairs, hearing her thump quickly after him.
"Where are you going? What are you doing?! Talk to me, Kieron!" His mother shouted, almost sounding like she was pleading. But there was nothing to reason with. Kieron was determined as he walked to his room, pulling his vacation suitcase out of his closet and opening it, paying no mind to his mother as she stood in the doorway, asking for him to talk to her. The teenage fox pulled clothes out of his wardrobe and put them into the case recklessly, deciding he could organise then and straighten them later. He put money he had been collecting in the case along with some of his material possessions such as his MP3 player, his laptop and his gaming console. He didn't really know if he should since he knew Ronnie had plenty of material stuff of his own, but he did anyway, just out of reflex.
Kieron zipped up the suitcase and huffed as he pulled it up off of his bed and began pulling it, the wheels squeaking a little as he dragged it along, pushing past his mother as she remained standing at his bedroom doorway. But his mother remained determined to keep him from leaving, rushing past him and heading downstairs to close the front door and stand in front of it, blocking his exit. The teen, however, felt no need to rush as he slowly made his way downstairs. The fox stopped near his mother, looking at her, glaring a little as his determination remained strong. He was not going to be stopped, especially not now since he was so close.
"Mom, get out of the way..." The fox said quietly, looking at her, his eyes only narrowing more as she shook his head.
"No, you're...you're going to stay here. I'm going to call your father, tell him about all of this...we'll fix you, son, don't worry. We'll get you into a nice private school for Christians where you can--" The vixen was cut off by her son tugging her arm and pulling her away from the door. Her balance faltered and she landed on her back on the hard, wooden. It hadn't hurt much, but she was shocked by the action nonetheless.
Kieron turned, letting go of the suitcase and glared at his mother, his stare full of venom and hatred. His eyes burned with anger and he raised his fist, making his mother flinch and whimper staring at her son with fear.
Her reaction was what brought him back, his eyes softening. What was he doing? What had his mother done to deserve his anger? Why would he even think of hitting her? She may have tried to deny him his feelings, but it was because her beliefs told her that he would suffer for eternity for it. Maybe she really felt she was looking out for him?
The fox gritted his teeth and turned, opening the door and grabbing his suitcase again to walk out with his belongings to Alan's car, seeing the two huskies staring at him with worry. Ronnie's Dad got out of the car and opened the boot to help the fox put his suitcase into the car. After it was in he briefly glanced at the teen with soft eyes before closing the boot and getting into the driver's seat again.
Kieron didn't realise why they were so upset, he wasn't hurt, the shouting should have been expected and it didn't affect the fox at all. It wasn't until the teen got into the car and sighed putting his head in his paws, however, that he felt a liquid begin to trickle down his face. His eyelids felt damp as he blinked and that was it, his composure broke as he sobbed quietly.
The crying wasn't out of fear or disgust, but of guilt. Not because he felt wrong in his decision but because every time he thought about what had just happened all he could recall was his mother looking up at him fearfully and the seething anger that had caused him to almost strike her.
--
Kieron had managed to calm down and explain what had happened by the time they had reached the Michael household. Ronnie and Kieron soon headed upstairs with the latter's suitcase to begin putting things away.
"You sure you're okay, mate? I mean, you seemed pretty upset with yourself when you walked out of the house..." The husky said, looking at his boyfriend with worry as the two put away the last of his clothes into the washing basket, ready to be ironed some other time.
"Yeah, I think so." Kieron said as he walked over to the bed, zipping up the suit case and setting it at the bottom end of the bed where it was out of the way. "I didn't even realise I'd started crying until I was in the car, and it was mainly because of how angry I'd gotten, not because I was leaving."
"You don't feel anything? You aren't upset about leaving home?" Ronnie asked, sitting on the bed, the fox soon joining him.
"Not really..." The fox said honestly. "If I'd done this even just last year, maybe. But I've been so depressed lately and then I met you...and when I wasn't around my parents, when I didn't have to think about them I felt so much happier and I realised that they were a big part of my sadness." Kieron said, trying to explain. "So...I guess I'm just relieved that I can be myself now."
The husky smiled softly at Kieron. "I'm glad you're happy, at least. But I think you should give your parents a second chance if they come around, but only if they seem to have genuinely changed their feelings towards us."
Kieron nodded. "I guess you're right, I love you, Ronnie."
Ronnie blushed softly at the fox's words, even though they'd been uttered before. "I love you too, Kieron."
Their muzzles soon brushed together and the fox shifted to lie on the bed, the husky reinitiated their making out on top of his boyfriend and one thing led to another.
It wasn't long until Kieron forgot all about the conflict with his mother, temporarily at least.